United States of America
The United States of America, commonly known as the United States, America, or simply The USA, is a nation comprised of 75 states, one federal district, and multiple territories across Earth, Luna, and Mars. The core of the United States consists of a vast part of the North American continent. The capital is Washington DC, with the largest city by population being New York City, just to the northeast of the capital and the largest part of the BosWash Megalopolis that the two cities are apart of. With a population of 609 million people, the country is the fourth most populous nation on Earth, about 30 million less than the European Federal Union. 76 of the country's 85 states are contiguous and located in North America, ranging from the states of Alaska and Yukon in the northwest near the arctic circle, all the way down to the states of Guatemala and Honduras in tropic Central America. The remaining 9 non-contiguous states vary in location from the frozen island of Greenland, to the sunny archipelago of Hawaii, to the tropical states in the Caribbean like Cuba and Puerto Rico. History 1776-2000 The United States was founded after the Thirteen Colonies of Britain declared independence in 1776. The United States fought the American Revolution in order to secure their independence. The war lasted 7 years, ending in 1783 with the defeat of the British forces in America and the cementation of nationhood for the United States. The United States adopted a policy of Manifest Destiny, a policy that helped expand the United States westward. This policy dominated history and politics of the United States and caused many significant events, such as the First Mexican-American War 'and the 'Louisiana Purchase. 'The idea of Manifest Destiny until the late 19th century, and is typically seen to end with the 'Spanish-American War in 1898. In the 1860s, the United States fractured and the American Civil War began. The war was mainly caused by the dispute over chattel slavery, which was dominant in the southern United States before the war, due to the demand for labor on cotton farms. The Civil War had vast impacts for the future of the United States, one being that the United States became a very centralized nation, instead of the looser confederation it was before the war. During the early 1900s, the United States became involved in the First World War on the European front. This set the stage for the United States to become a world power. During the Second World War, the United States displayed its full military potential after the Japanese Empire bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The United States became the one of the two superpowers after WWII, the other being the Soviet Union. The period during the late 20th century of conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States is referred to the First Cold War, and lasted between 1945 and 1991. Multiple events took place between the First Cold War that were directly influenced by both superpowers, with the most important being the First Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Second Spanish Revolution, the Yugoslavian Revolution, and the Reunification of Germany. The First Cold War was marked with advances in multiple fields, with the two largest being the fields of Nuclear technology and Space exploration. A prominent part of the First Cold War was the Space Race between 1957 and 1975. The Space Race started with the launch of Sputnik-1 by Roscosmos, the Soviet space program. The launch of Sputnik-1 caused the creation of NASA, the American space program. The Space Race caused multiple firsts in spaceflight, such as the first man in space, the first space station, and the first interplanetary probe. The crowning achievement of the Space Race was the Apollo '''program, which landed 27 men on '''Luna between 1969 and 1974. The First Cold War would end with the Reunification of Germany in 1989 and the fall of the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact in 1991. 21st Century By the end of the 20th century, the United States had become cemented as the dominant world power among the 5 or so which existed at the turn of the century. For the start of the 21st century, the United States stood as the most prosperous and well-defended nation in history. This changed with the September 11th attacks in 2001. During the two attacks, three planes were flown into the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, DC. The September 11th attacks began the War on Terror, in which the United States and multiple other countries began a spree of eradication of terrorist networks worldwide. For the most part, the War on Terror was successful and resulted in success after success for the United States and their allies. However, in July of 2015, the Persian Nuclear Crisis and the detonation of a nuclear bomb in Berlin, Germany and the subsequent nuclear strike on a terrorist stronghold in southern Iran marked a darker turn for the War on Terror as it reached its final months. The War on Terror lasted until March of 2017 and ended with the creation of the Union of Arab Republics. Between 2017 and 2034, the United States would see some of the greatest growth in it's history, developing geographically, politically, and economically. This would not come without a cost, though. The 21st Century Climate Change Crisis hit the region of the United States surrounding the Gulf of Mexico and Pacific Ocean weakened immensely by rising tides, and the steady flow of immigrants from South & East Asia into the Midwest and Pacific states caused the US population to grow by 330,000 in 2020. The rising flow of both immigrants and seawater caused the United States to become one of the first signatories of the Treaty of Paris in 2023, and by 2040 the United States was the largest carbon-neutral country on Earth. In 2023, the Second Mexican-American War '''caused the first territorial expansion of the United States almost 80 years. A border scuffle and subsequent attack in the town of El Paso, Texas, caused the start of the war, which lasted 2 years and ended with the '''Treaty of Kingston in early-2025 and the American annexation of the northern third of Mexico, which would later become the states of Sinaloa, Sonora, and Rio Grande. Less than a year later, the Republic of Canada voted to join the United States and would officially be absorbed in March. Starting in 2026, the Central American Economic Depression '''caused '''American President Tyler Reyes to issue the Reyes Proposition at the 2026 State of the Union address. The Reyes Proposition offered the depression-stricken countries of Central America for the duration of the CAED and for 20 years afterwards in exchange for the country joining the United States as a territory, with the guarantee of becoming a state within 10 years. The Reyes Proposition was met by both friendly and angry responses by Central America, but the first major response came from a group of Caribbean countries in May of 2027. The four Caribbean nations agreed to the terms of the Reyes Preposition, with the one main term being that the territories immediately be able to transfer their legislations and integrate them into legislatures similar to that the US states, as well as being able to immediately begin the process of becoming a state. The United States accepted and in July of 2027 what would become the states of The Antilles, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and The Bahamas joined the United States. One of the worst responses to the Reyes Proposition came from Cuba, who dismissed it as "another example of renewed US imperialism." The Cuban president was said to be outraged when the news arrived of the four Caribbean nations joining the United States. Following this, Cuba severed the few diplomatic ties it had with the United States and issued an unofficial response in the form of the Miami Attacks. During the Miami Attacks, a series of terrorist attacks and uprisings by the Cuban population in and around the city of Miami, Florida occurred. For about a week, the city is thrown into chaos. 80 were killed and almost 3500 were injured. After the discovery of the Cuban government's involvement in the attacks, the United States immediately declared war on Cuba, beginning the Cuban-American War. The Cuban-American War lasted for just over a year and ended with the Treaty of Havana, in which the United States officially annexed the island nation. Between 2029 and 2033 the United States would undergo its final expansion of Earth to-date. Between 2031 and 2034 the rest of Mexico along with the nations of Honduras, Belize, El Salvador, and Guatemala all joined the United States under the Reyes Proposition. Finally, in 2033 the island nation of Samoa would be absorbed by the United States after asking for protection from the Oceanic Sovereignty during the Oceanic Wars. Spaceflight Space Race As previously mentioned, the United States participated in the Space Race against the Soviet Union between 1957 and 1975. After the launch of Sputnik-1 by the Soviet Union, American president Dwight Eisenhower ordered the creation of NASA. During the space race, NASA would stay close behind Roscosmos, being second to launch an artificial satellite, send both animals and people into space (the first American in space was Alan Shepard in 1961), send both a probe and rover to Luna, and perform a spacewalk. In 1962, president John Kennedy made it an official policy to land a man on Luna by 1970. The Apollo Program consisted of 20 missions between 1967 and 1974, with the first landing being Apollo-11 in 1969. After the first manned lunar landing, NASA took the lead in the Space Race and stayed as the most advanced spaceflight organization until the formation of the UNSA in 2018. The Space Race officially ended in 1975 with the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, a joint program between NASA and Roscosmos. 1975-2018 After the end of the Apollo program, NASA began the use of the Space Shuttle, a partially-reusable manned spacecraft meant to serve as a cheap way to bring humans to Low Earth Orbit. The Space Shuttle flew between 1981 and 2015 with over 175 missions between 8 spacecraft. The Space Shuttle's main purpose was to bring both commercial and governmental to Low Earth Orbit, as well as service those satellite and launch scientific probes. The largest and most important use of the Space Shuttle, though, was Space Station Construction. Between 1999 and 2015, the Space Shuttle brought up many modules to the International Space Station, a collaborative effort between 7 national space programs and multiple private corporations. The Space Shuttle also assisted in the creation of the Collins Lunar Gateway and the Bermuda Orbital Fuel Depot between 2005 and 2015. The United States was heavily involved with the Ares Program between 2018 and 2038. American astronaut Clark Dawson served as the commander for the Ares-1 mission in 2018. 6 out of 10 Ares missions also launched out the United States. The main launch site in the United States, Kennedy Space Center, is also the largest launch site on Earth and has turned into almost a mini-city, with almost 35,000 regular employees and a huge collection of engineering facilities, research labs, and both governmental and corporate administration buildings. Post Ares-1 and Current Along with the Ares program, the United States did much of the work in the colonization of Luna. After the signing of the Luna Accords in 2019, NASA immediately began sending dozens of ships to Luna's sphere of influence. The Commonwealth of Armstrong was established in late-2022 as the first Lunar Commonwealth, only having a population of 1500. The United States and NASA were also a prime force in the creation of Tharsistown and the colonization of Mars and its moons starting in 2032. As of 2110, the United States holds ownership over 250 orbital-class cruisers and over 500 smaller ships. The total population of all American-owned spots off Earth totals around 9.5 million. Demographics Population The United States Census Bureau estimates the population of the United States in 2110 to be around 609 million, with 605 million (99.3% of the population), living on Earth alone. The total population has increased by 10 million since 2100 and by 135 million since 2050. As of 2110, the United States is the fourth most populous nation on Earth, trailing behind the European Federal Union by roughly 30 million. Population is expected to increase both on Earth and offworld, though a decline in growth could be seen on Earth. As of 2110, 86% of Americans on Earth live in urban areas (counties with a population density greater than 1500 people per square mile), with about 27% of Americans living within one of the 11 federally-recognized megacities and megalopoli: Seattle-Vancouver, Mexico City, San Francisco, BosWash, Los Angeles, Detroit, Montreal-Quebec, Dallas, MKJO, Denver, and Chicago. The largest city on Earth is New York City (part of BosWash), and the largest settlement offworld is Eagle on Luna. Language English is the de-facto language of the United States, understood by 99.8% of the population. Spanish is the second-most understood language, with 23% of the population fluent in it. It is primarily spoken in the southern part of the country as well as in the Caribbean. French is the third largest language, with about 10% of the population understanding it. It is primarily spoken in pat of eastern Canada and in the state of Hispaniola in the Caribbean. Various Native American languages have also appeared to made a semi-revival in the past few decades, growing in population from 2.7% of 2050 to 4.9% in 2110. Other spoken languages include Italian, Korean, Mandarin, and Arabic. Religion Officially, the United States is a secular country, with religious freedom being guaranteed by the 1st amendment to the United States Constitution. The largest religions in the country are Christianity (63.3%), Islam (7.3%), and Judaism (4.8%). 22.9% of the population identifies as unaffiliated or irreligious. Government Technically speaking, the United States is the oldest surviving federation on Earth, as a representative democracy. All government actions are monitored by a system of checks-and-balances where no single governmental branch has total power over the others. All formal federal laws and actions are also defined by the United States Constitution, the foremost legal document since the foundation of the country. In the American legal system, all citizens are subject to three tiers of government: the Federal government, the state government, and the local government (county/district). Structure The United States government is commonly divided into three distinct branches: * Executive: Office of the President and Vice President of the United States. Can veto legislative bills before they become laws, appoint members of Cabinet (subject to Senate approval) and other officers, who administer and enforce federal laws and policies. * Legislative: Made up of two houses: The United States Senate (upper), and House of Representatives (lower). Can propose laws, declare war & approve treaties, impeach members of government, and finalize the federal budget. * Judicial: Consists of Supreme Court and lower federal courts. Judges appointed by president (with Senate approval). Has ability to interpret Constitution and find laws in violation of said constitution. The House of Representatives has 870 members, with each representing approximately 700,000 citizens. The number of House seats each state gets is redistributed every ten years, with the 2100 House having 855 members. Regardless of population, each state is guaranteed at least one representative. Circa 2110, the state with the most representatives is Texas, with 102 representatives. The United States Senate has 150 members, with each state given two members. Each HoR member serves for a single congressional district for a two-year term. Each Senator serves for a six-year term. The President is elected every four years, with a term-limit of 2 terms. Presidents used to be elected via the Electoral College, a system where civilian voters would not actually be toward selecting the next president, but a representative who would then support a candidate. After the 28th Amendment to the Constitution in 2021 and ever since, the president is chosen via direct vote. The 9 Supreme Court justices are appointed by the president and serve for life, but must reappointed every ten years. Political Parties For most of its history, the United States has been dominated by two opposing parties. However, the end of the Sixth Party System in the late 2020s is largely seen as the end of the two-party domination of American politics, allowing for the rise of formally minor parties. As of 2110, the largest political parties in the United States are as follows: Category:Countries Category:Great Unifiers Category:United States of America